Which Country Has the Most Lakes Natural or Man Made

Michael Collins

The difference between the definition of lake and pond makes it hard to come up with a ranking of countries with most lakes in the world. The definition of lake stated on Wikipedia says that a large area of water surrounded by land is known a lake and on the other hand National Geographic defines pond as a small area of water with land around it. So that creates a bit of ambiguity in making a final decision. But through detailed research, we’ve composed a list of countries with most lakes in the world.

Canada

According to the studies Canada has been found out to have the most lakes in the world as 50% of the lakes in the world are located in Canada. Canada is a home of around two million lakes of which 31,000 cover the area of approximately 3 to 100 sq. Km. And around 560 cover the area of 100km2. A large number of lakes is due to the huge surface area of Canada. The lakes were formed due to the increased global warming and the intense glacial activities causing the water to dig down and form lakes in different parts of the country.

Of the total area of Canada, approximately 9% is covered with water, and there are around 2 million lakes that are not officially recognized or named as they lie in between the category of lakes and ponds.

Source: blog.kudoybook.com

Huron, Superior, Michigan, Erie, and Ontario are known as The Great Lakes are interconnected lakes of fresh water and are the largest water body on the earth. They cover the upper mid east are of US, connecting US and Canada on Canada-United States Border which in terms connects to the Atlantic Ocean passing through Saint Lawrence River.

The Great Lakes watershed connects Canada and United States on the border and 40 million people of Canada as well as United States which comprises of around 25% population of Canada and 10% of the total population of US.

The largest lake of Canada is the Lake Superior and is one of the Great Lakes. It touches the north side of Ontario (Canada) and State of Minnesota (U.S.) from the west. As per the surface area, Superior is considered to be the largest freshwater lake in the world and considering the volume of water; it’s ranked as the third largest lake in the world. Comparing to the other lakes of the Great Lakes chain Superior Lake is known to have the highest elevation, draining in St. Mary’s River.

The second largest of the Great Lakes is Lake Huron as it covers an area of around 23,000 Square Miles that is approximately 59,500 100km2. The major inlet of Lake Huron is St. Mary’s river and the outlet are St. Clair River. Huron was the name acquired by the French explorers for Huron people inhabiting the region.

The Great Bear is yet another lake of Canada and is considered to be the largest lake the is entirely located in Canada and doesn’t expand out of Canada and also is the 4th largest lake in entire North America. The surface is of the Great Bear Lake is around 31,153km2.

Great Slave is the second largest lake that lies in the Northwestern area of Canada and is known to be the deepest lake around North America. Comparing to the other lakes around the world, Lake Great Slave is ranked as the 10th largest lake in the world. The total surface of it is approximately 27,200 km2.

Of the Great Lakes of North America, Lake Erie is the fourth largest lake as per the surface area and is ranked on the eighteenth position in the largest lakes of the world by surface area. The maximum depth of Lake Erie is 210 ft. i.e., 64 meters. It covers a surface area of about 25,874 km2 (9,900 square feet).

Russia:

Source: Pinterest

Covering about one eight of the total area of earth that’s inhabited, Russia is the largest country in the world as per area. Russia has a large number of river, lakes and other inland bodies of water making it one of the world’s largest surface water resources. The lakes of Russia contain about one-quarter of the world’s fresh water. The largest and the most prominent lake in Russia is Lake Baikal which is well known to be the deepest and the oldest with a massive capacity of 23,615.39 km3 to store water. It is also known to be the clearest lake in the world. Other lakes of Russia include Ladoga, Onega, Beyole, and the Caspian Sea.

Rank

Name

U.S. states/Canadian provinces/Mexican states

Area

Type

1

Lake Superior

Michigan-Minnesota-Wisconsin-Ontario

31,700 sq mi – 82,103 km2

Natural

2

Lake Huron

Michigan-Ontario

23,000 sq mi – 59,570 km2

Natural

3

Lake Michigan

Illinois-Indiana-Michigan-Wisconsin

22,300 sq mi – 57,757 km2

Natural

4

Lake Erie

Michigan-New York-Ohio-Ontario-Pennsylvania

9,910 sq mi – 25,667 km2

Natural

5

Lake Ontario

New York-Ontario

7,340 sq mi 19,011 km2

Natural

Countries With Most Lakes:

Country

Number of Lakes (103)

Canada

879.8

Russia

201.2

USA

102.5

China

23.8

Sweden

22.6

Brazil

20.9

Norway

20.0

Argentina

13.6

Kazakhstan

12.4

Australia

11.4

Lakes Listed By Continent:

Continent

Number of Lakes (103)

North America

991.9

Europe

280.7

Asia

66.2

South America

53.8

Africa

15.2

Oceania

13.2

Lakes in United States:

Source: Pandotrip.com

The USA secures the third spot in the countries having the most number of lakes. About 7% of the total area is covered with water, and that makes 9.834 million km². The country has a large number of lakes, and the list of the largest lakes is given below.

The Great Lakes cover the upper mid-east of US, connecting US and Canada on Canada-United States Border.